Breathing apparatus



Sept. 12, 1933., w. P. Bises BREATHING APPARATUs- Filed Sept. 9, 1929 WILL/AM` F. B/GGS, INI/EN TOR.

BY A TTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 12, 1933 PATENT OFFICE.

1,926,027 BREATHING APPARATUS William P. Biggs, Washington, D. C.

Application september 9, 192e Serial No. 391,349

3 Claims.

(Granted under the Act ol March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) l the construction' of a breathing apparatus that is easily disassembled and that when assembled precludes the entrance toethe breathing organs of the wearer of any undesirable fumes.

A further object of my invention is to provide a breathing apparatus that has the air evenly distributed throughout, thereby preventing dead areas.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be described more fully hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a view partly in section showing the assembly of my invention and its application tothe face of a wearer;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the intake and exhaust\ connection;

Figure 3 is a sectional view on line 6-6 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a central sectional view of the mask of my improved device.

Referring more particularly to Figure 1 of the drawing, 1 indicates a face piece to which a hose is attached by a tubular connection 3 provided with a relief port 4. The free end of 40 the hose 2 is fitted with a coupling or connector 5 adapted to be hooked up with a source of air supply or air filter and the face piece has the straps 6 fastened thereto to 4provide a suitable head harness for securing the apparatus to the face of the wearer.

The face piece 1 is preferably a moulded rubber mask that fits over the nose, mouth and well up in under the chin of the user. The nose portion 7 extends up on and completely covers the nose, but it is formfitting and graduallyr falls away from in under the eyes to4 the cheeks then fills out to the jaws. In order to insure -snugness and a gas-.tight seal, the edges of the mask bearing against the face start as feather edges at the top of the nose portion 'land gradually roll outwardly as at 8 until they reach the center of the cheeks at Which point the rolled portions 8 begin to decrease until straight edges are reached under the chin. Thus, although the apparatus fits snugly against the face and comes 6o well up on the nose, it does not interfere with the wearing of goggles when the nature of the work performed requires the same.

The tubular connection 3 and the exhaust port 4 that is an integral part of connection 3 65 have a channel 9 cut into the outer circumference adjacent the upper end so that when a portion of the face piece 1 is'stretched over the upper end of the connection 3 and port 4 it is held firmly in place by an inwardly projecting ridge 10 inserted into the channel 9. Secured to the end of the connection 3 on the insideV of the mask is an inverted U shaped deflector 11 thatdiverts any positive air supply from the nostrils, thereby not only eliminating .the chances of catching a cold and averting the possibility of a dead area in the mask but also allowing any excess pressure of the air supply to pass out through the relief port 4.

The lower end of the connection 3 has a 3.0 valve 27 for preventing exhaust respiration from mingling with the air supply. This valve consists of a piece of 'mica or other suitable material 13 placed on an inwardly extended boss 15v on the lower edge of the connection 3 and 8 held against upward displacement by cross bars 14. The -hose 2 is fastened to the connection by wires 12.

Secured to the lower end of the relief port 4 is a suitable automatic vent valve 16. Valve 16 is 9 made up of two sheets of rubber 17 and 18 vulcanized together at the edges and slit at the sides as at 30 so that the same automatically opens when pressure bears against it from the inside. A supporting frame 32 holds the valve 16 in position.

Although I have shown the exhaust port 4 as an integral part of the connection 3, I desire it to be understood that the valve 16 can be placed 'on any suitable part of the mask without interfering with the operation of my apparatus.

The coupling 5 is made up'of a tubular unit 19 having its upper end inserted and secured in the hose `2 and a tubular unit 20 adapted to 5 be connected with a source of air supply or air filter. Unit 19 has shoulder 21 and a sleeve 22 extending therefrom that fits snugly into unit 20. A shoulder 23 is provided on the unit 20 and with shoulder 21 of unit 19 holds a washer 24 o on sleeve 22 firmly in place thus forming an airtight joint. Thetwo units 19 and 20 may be held together by means of a bail 25 secured to unit 19 passing in under and partially around shoulder 23 of unit 20.

` In the practical use of my device, unit 20 is attached to a supply of air or air lter and then coupled to unit 19 by means of bail 25.

The mask is their secured to the operator by the.

.the space between the mask and face ofthe This flow of air is evenly distributedA wearer. by the deflector 11 and in case of excess pressure the said deilector 11 diverts the air to the relief port 4 thus providing the operator with the ordinarily respirable atmosphere. The valve 27 and defiector 11 prevent exhaust respiration passing into the source ofrair supply but allow the same to pass through port 4 and out vent valve 16.

It will be understood that the above description and accompanying drawing comprehend only the general and preferred embodiment of my invention and that various changes in the details of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts may be made within the scope of the appended claims and without sacricing any of the advantages of my invention.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any yroyalty thereon.

I claim:

1. A breathing apparatus comprising a face.

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piece having a form fitting nose portion, a chin section adapted to it well in under the chin of a wearer, cushion portions starting as feather edges at said nose portion and gradually rolling outwardly from the face until they reach the center of the cheek portion at which point said edges gradually decrease to the straight edge of said chin section, and an air intake and exhaust unit having a U shaped deflector for evenly distributing air in said face piece and adapted to direct air under excessive pressures to the exhaust portion of said unit.

2. A breathing apparatus comprising a mask made up entirely of ilexible material of variable thickness having form-litting portions, said portions due to the variable thickness fitting completely over the nose but dropping away from the eyes and around the lower portion of the cheek bones, then tting up in under the chin of a wearer to form a complete seal, a member having an intake and an exhaust port for conveying air to and from said mask, and a de- `iiector to direct air downward and away from the face of the wearer secured to said intake and extending over said exhaust port whereby air under excessive pressure is directly by-passed through the exhaust port.

3. A breathing apparatus, a mask consisting of flexible material of varying thickness throughout its entirety having form tting portions to make an air-tight seal against the face of a wearer, an air intake and exhaust member for conveying air to and from said mask, and an inverted U-shaped tube secured to the intake and extending over the exhaust for directing the air downward and away from the face of the wearer whereby air under excessive pressure passes directly through the exhaust.

WILLIAM P. BIGGS. 

